Building Sustainable Futures Accenture

Strap in for a whistle-stop tour of the science and technology ideas which will build our sustainable futures, with acclaimed mathematician and broadcaster, Professor Hannah Fry. Our wide-ranging interview, introduced by Accenture CEO for UK and Ireland, Simon Eaves, covers AI, exponential curves, Goddard’s Law, and protein folding. For all this innovation, Hannah explains, it’s human ingenuity which will ultimately help us prevail in the transition to a more sustainable world.

A third of the fish caught every day are illegal and unreported, sold by independent fishermen who must choose between going fishing, or going hungry. As a result, over 90% of world fish species are now under threat. Today’s guest, Alistair Douglas, believes blockchain offers a solution to overfishing. He explains how his blockchain initiative, FishCoin, financially rewards fishermen for maintaining fish stocks, and brings end-to-end traceability to a market where illegality is rife.

Today, we focus on the circular economy, a potentially £3.4 trillion market where nothing new is made, and nothing goes to waste. Our guest, May Al-Karooni, is CEO of Globechain, one of the fastest-growing circular economy start-ups. She talks about her journey from £800 website to fully-fledged digital platform, and some of the surprising ways business waste can come back to life in new hands.

Do business leaders have to choose between profit or planet? Not according to Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. She believes companies have the imagination, innovation, and people power we need to quickly green our economies – and capture new opportunities for growth.